How many players carry a one iron?

When I stopped playing 25 years ago, I couldn't hit my driver. Fast forward to 2011 and I still can't hit that beast. I'm erratic with my three wood off the tee. I picked up a one iron to use for those troublesome shots under low trees (lots & lots of trees on one course I play). I tried using it off the tee, and hit it fairly well. I hit it shorter than the three wood, but more consistently in the fairway. Anyone else still have one of these antiques in their bag?

I have one in the basement. I can't imagine a windy enough day to make that club a better choice than a 2-iron.

I've only ever played with one player with a 1i (and I almost never show up with more than a twosome, and in LA you're always paired with other to make a foursome, so I play with lots of random people).  He was a decent but not spectacular player who hit some solid drives.  He took it out for two holes and hit crap shots with it both times.  Any reason not to just play a 4w/5w?

LOL!  Your the fifth person I know of who hits 1 irons better then our drivers.

I have a blade made by Confidence. What a wonderful name to have stamped on a 1 iron.

Name another club that you can find at Goodwill for $2 that's 40 years old and looks like new? That's why I collect them.

I used to carry a 1-iron but unless all you do is play links golf, nowdays its a pretty useless club.  Modern golf courses are designed for clubs that launch the ball high and make it land soft, which isnt something that a 1-iron does very well.

Give me a 17* hybrid or a 5-wood any day over a 1-iron.

That describes my 1-iron (and how I came to own it) to a T!!

I found my 1 iron in a bin at local golf shop that was marked "everything $3". I think I have hit it maybe 10 times in 3 years I just can't justify it over a 2 iron or hybrid.

As Lee Trevino said" Not even God can hit a 1 iron"!!  I used to use one in Phoenix when I worked there in the Winter.  When I looked for balls I hit into the desert, I iron was great for moving back shrubs and looking around cactus. You wanted a long club in case you encountered a Rattlesnake!

Now that you mention it.   The sets in the old days included a 2 iron.   And because the lofts in the modern set are different it probably was more like your 1 iron.

To hit a 1 iron straight requires the proper swing speed.

Seriously, When my joints flare up I'm swinging slow and a  23 deg hybrid, a 16 deg iron, or a 13 deg driver reach the same distance.

Since even god can't hit a 1 iron, a low rolling shot is expected with a 1 iron and pathetic with a driver.

I use a 1 iron fairly often when I am playing.  My clubs are hand-me-downs from my grandfather, which i think he bought in the early 90s. (one of these days i'll buy new clubs).  I don't like the way hybrids or woods feel out of the rough, the bigger head ususally causes me to top it for one of those roller shots.  So if the shot is around 200 Yards, I grab my trusty 1 iron.  I don't notice it being any more difficult to hit than any other iron, and 7 out of 10 times (about the same as any other club) I make great contact with the ball and get that 200 yard shot.

Now with this being said, i am a high handicapper (somewhere in the 20s but haven't officially computed it), my average drive is about 210 yards (usually a slice), and I have a decent amount of miss-hits.  But for some reason that 1 iron is my club.  If I am really stinking it up with my driver, I'll use it off the tee.

My golf buddy (Who's about an 18 handicap) just bought an old set of Nike forged blades that includes a 1 iron... he said he won't always bring it out with him, but it'll be hilarious to watch him try to get the ball in the air with it.

I know Mizuno, Bridgestone and Titleist have made 'driving' irons that are, essentially, 2 irons with longer shafts and wider soles. The way that modern lofts are, even in player sets, a 1 iron is going to be somewhere, loft-wise, between a 3 and a 4 wood (16 degrees in most players sets, even lower than a 3W in a set of shovels). The construction of woods/hybrids and ESPECIALLY shafts for woods/hybrids makes it so, even in a links situation, there's no advantage to playing a 1 iron unless you're just trying to show off for your buddies. Plus, to hit a modern one iron with a traditional iron shaft, you'd need ridiculous swing speed and impact dynamics (talking top end of the PGA/Euro tour, here) to get any consistency out of it.

Nobody on tour plays a 1 iron...and most guys really only carry a 2 iron in special situations. That should tell you all you need to know about hitting an iron with less loft than a 3 iron with modern equipment and the modern golf ball.

The demise of the one iron predated the modern ball and introduction of modern clubs. It coincided with a trend in golf course design to introduce very generous / wide landing areas and forced carries. Neither feature requires or encourages putting 1-iron in the bag. I knew a few old guys who could "stripe" a 1-iron - about as far as a smooth 6-iron LOL!!

I would say very few any more.  There are so many more options today than there were 20 years ago.  I carried a 2 iron for several years, but I've never owned a 1 iron.  Most players these days don't have anything longer than a 4 iron.  My longest iron is a 5, then I go to my hybrids.

Same. I've got one, but it's just not worth it.

I am not sure I understand why this club is considered hard to hit...  I am by no means  a PGA level golfer.  I shoot in the low 100s, and have only been taking golf seriously for less than a year now.  My hand-me-down clubs included a 1 iron.  I thought it was neat and gave it a go ended up hitting it perfectly straight, with great trajectory around 185-190 yards.  I don't think my swing speed is ridiculous (not sure exactly what it is, but i am not a big hitter... i drive the ball around 210-230).  Out of all aspects of my game my iron play is the best so maybe i just have a good swing when it comes to long irons?  Honestly I don't think this is a hard club to hit at all.  I do get my occasion botched shot, but i tend to get more of those with my 6 iron than with my 1 iron (i think its mental, i just can't hit that damn 6iron).

So should i be considering joining the PGA since i can hit this thing?

I played with a guy in an invitational who used a one iron.  He was struggling with driver and pulled iron on a tee where it would be unusual to hit iron.  Then he put one out there 240 or more.  I was a little surprised but did not think much of it.  When he pulled it out again and did the same thing I had to ask, what is that.  I think it was an old McGregor club but it was a 1 iron for sure.  The only one iron I have ever seen.  Off a tee he got it in the air.